Welcome to the Rappahannock Rotary Club

We, the Rappahannock Rotary Club are diverse and welcoming people, professional and business persons providing community and international service. We also seek to encourage high ethical standards in all vocations.

Ninety plus men and women are current members, active and active retirees, ranging from 25 to 70+ in age. Our distinguishing characteristic is a belief that fun and humor are essential for a happy club. And we seek to emplace younger members in key leadership slots early for you are the foundation of the future. Many of the Vice-Chairs for our committees are among our younger members.

Our Club is always continually changing as new members, new projects, ensure change into new forms of local and global service. This process creates new opportunities for all.

Our meetings begins promptly at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning with a superb hot breakfast amongst a gathering of friends who enjoy one another's company. We also share a common commitment to work together toward our common projects while portraying Rotary’s motto “Service Above Self.”

The commitment and zeal of the Club can be measured by many past and recent awards. The most recent was the selection of our weekly "Rap Sheet" as the best newsletter for large clubs within District 7610 in April. '09, (covering much of Northern Virginia and a large slice of Central Virginia).

Our activities center around four Avenues of Service and are profiled to the right.

A New Paul Harris Fellow In Honduras

Dr. Roberto Castellanos is the current president of the El Progreso Rotary club in El Progreso, Honduras. Jim and I first met Roberto on our first service trip to Honduras in January, 2007. In December of 2008, members of the Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg-Rappahannock and Stafford Rotary Clubs hosted three members of the El Progreso Club, and Last July Jim and I each requested that 500 points be deducted from our RI foundation accounts and credited toward making Roberto A Paul Harris Fellow.

Friday a week ago, we received a phone call from Roberto, who was very excited. It seems his club held a special event to present him with his Paul Harris award. They invited his entire family: wife, children, parents, and his brothers and sisters. The picture above shows Roberto and his whole family when he received the award.

Our involvement with Haiti:

I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of compassion that has been playing out in our community. As a member of past Haiti Mission teams, I grieve with our friends at the heart breaking losses. The home we stayed in has been demolished by the earthquake which also took the life of its 80 year old owner and our hostess/house mother Juanita Joseph. Also, gone from this world is Pastor Bienne L'Amerique, a great man of God and educator through whom we worked to help build up a strong Haitian community. Please keep their families in your prayers.

- Mitzi

Read more about our involvement with Haiti and the two shelter boxes we have purchased by reading the Rapsheet.

December 5th Pancake Feast

Rotary and UN celebrate close relationship

Rotary and the United Nations Global Compact have recently agreed to deepen their collaboration, encouraging Global Compact local networks and Rotary clubs to seek a stronger alignment through joint activities and programs.

District Governor Horace McCormack awards Mary Louise Holmes her pin as a graduate of the Rotary Leadership Institute recently in Fredericksburg. Three other Club members also completed the course: Butch Williamson, Patrick Stewart [in the background] and Janet Brown outside camera range.